The nominations for this year's Oscars were announced this morning and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tapped exactly who you thought they would. That's not a bad thing. There were some surprises though. Here's a full list of the nominees.

Critical darlings like The Artist, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Hugo, and The Descendants were showered with nominations. I can't believe that Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, George Clooney, and Meryl Streep are all up for Oscars. That never happens. Hugo, Scorsese's 3D movie that is an old man's idea of what kids would want to see, has the most nominations with 11.

The biggest shock was that with the Academy's new impossible to understand nominating system, we have nine Best Picture nominees. Traditionally five films were tapped, but for the past two years the list expanded to 10. This was the first year the new system, which allows anywhere from five to 10 nominations, was used and it seems the new math favors lots of nominees. The category was initially opened up to include more blockbusters and fan favorites which gooses the ratings for the awards show broadcast. Instead, we just added room for movies like Tree of Life, War Horse, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Sure, they all did well, but they're no Harry Potter.

Remember when the Oscars had five Best Picture nominees and then they switched it to 10? Remember…
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The only other true shocks were a nod for Demián Bichir for Best Actor for A Better Life (which I had to look up on IMDb to remember what it was) and a Best Supporting Actor nod for Nick Nolte for Warrior, which everyone thought was a mixed martial arts schlockfest based on the way it was marketed. Let's get to the list.

Best PictureWar HorseThe ArtistMoneyballThe DescendantsTree of LifeMidnight in ParisThe HelpHugoExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close